Today, the college name is shortened to Martin Luther College (MLC).

The first day of classes at the new college was held Nov. 10, 1884, the day after the dedication ceremony.

MLC Alumni Relation Director Michelle Markgraf said on opening day the college only had 8 students enrolled. By Easter enrollment would grow to 44 students.

At that time the school campus consisted of one main building. Dorms, classrooms, chapel, dinning hall and kitchen were all located in one building. The original building still stands as part of the MLC campus and is affectionally called “Old Main.”

Martin Luther College opened to student 140 years ago on Nov. 10, 1884. At that time the entire college consisted of single structure. Dorms, classrooms, chapel, dinning hall and kitchen were all located in one building. This original building still stands as part of the MLC campus and is now called “Old Main.”

In honor of the 140th anniversary of Old Main, MLC has been collecting stories about the historic building from alumni and former staff.

In 1884, all male students lived in four large bedrooms on the third floor of Old Main. The second floor contained a study room and classrooms. The first floor also contained classrooms as well as professor living quarters. The basement featured a kitchen, dinning room, coal room, washroom, cellar and housekeepers’ rooms.

Over the decades, the building would see constant changes. Some of these changes came through renovations to Old Main, but many of the changes were influenced by the construction of other buildings on campus.

In 1911, a new dormitory called Summit Hall was constructed on campus. The new dorm gave the young men extra rooms, beds and desks. The bedroom spaces on the third floor could be converted into extra classrooms.

A century ago, in 1924, Old Main became the site of a long-standing DMLC tradition. On the morning of commencement, band members climbed to the roof of Old Main and played a short concert. The band sang out the names of the graduates and manually rang the steeple bell for each. The tradition of playing a commencement day concert from Old Main’s roof would be continued until 1995.

One of the carvings discovered in Old Main’s roof steeple featured the name of an “F. Weber” of St. Paul dated 1888. A Fred Weber from St. Paul is listed on the first roster of students in the academic department. Submitted photo

Over the decades, sneaking onto Old Main’s roof was something of a right of passage for many students, including the children of faculty staff.

John Hartwig, a 1982 DMLC grad, spent his childhood at the college. His father Ted Hartwig served as a professor at the college. John Hartwig was able to share several of his memories of Old Main with current staff. The most impressive stories were his explorations of Old Main’s roof in the late 60s and 70s.

Hartwig was able to access the roof using the fire escape. By standing on the rail on the third floor they could shimmy onto the roof. Once on the roof, his friends and siblings were able to gain access to the steeple. Inside the steeple, Hartwig discovered chasms under the louvered windows of the steeple between the roof and sub-roof.

“In this area, we discovered very elaborately carved initials and names of people who had gone before us.”

The initials included dates. One carving read “P.F. 1889.” There were two carvings from 1887: “Jacob Schadegg and “F. Weber. St. Paul June 14, 1887.”

In 1920, DMLC student Victor Albrecht directed sings on top of Old Main. By 1924, it became a tradition for the college band to climb to the roof of Old Main on commencement day and perform a short concert. L to R: Hibert Engel, Alftons Engel, Godrey Schultz, Ed Bradtke and Alvin Bear. Submitted photo

A Fred Weber was listed on the school’s first roster of students in the academic department. It is believed he made the carving.

Markgraf said when they reached out to alumni for stories they did not expect to uncover artificats from the first few years.

By the late 1920s, Old Main started to be used more for piano practice. Two rooms on the third floor were converted into piano rooms. Three organ rooms were added to the first floor during the late ’20s.

Dorm rooms returned to Old Main by the 1950s when female dormitories were added to the third floor. Former music teacher Ruth Anderson remembers when the third floor was converted to student housing there were no shower facilities, only a claw-footed bathtub. Anderson remembered using nail polish to paint the claws red.

By 1958, Old Main’s third floor had three rooms for 21 women. Eileen Jacobson and 1965 alumni of DMLC shared an old joke about living on the third floor of Old Main. She said the Old Main girls were girls with the most muscular legs because of the three sets of stairs they needed to walk up every day.

An old political slogan from the 1950s supporting Dwight Eisenhower was carved into the exterior wall of Old Main near the front entrance. In 2025, Martin Luther College is planning to renovate the front entrance, but staff are committed to retaining the historical integrity of the building, including the old political carving.

Jacobson also remembered, that with 21 women living on the third floor, it was a challenge to schedule telephone use. Calling or receiving long-distance calls needed to be scheduled and many of the students could not afford to make calls during peak times.

For 84 years, Old Main served as the dining hall for the college. There were actually two separate dining halls on the first floor. The larger room was for the male students and seated 150. The smaller dining room for girls seated 60 girls.

Meal service left Old Main in 1968 after the construction of Luther Student Center. The center would become the site of the new dining room and kitchen. The dining halls on Old Main were converted into business offices and faculty work areas.

Old Main lost the dining rooms in the late ’60s but gained a print shop in 1969, the basement of Old Main. The space served all the campus’s printing needs and continues to this day. Lester Ring ran the printing shop starting in the 1969- 1970 school year and continued to work there until the mid-’90s when his song John Ring took over.

The shop prints everything from bookshop items and greeting cards to booklets and banners. Currently, the print shop is producing the playbills for MLC’s upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

A photo of Old Main taken in 1888 with several students posting on the front steps. In 1888, Dr Martin Luther College was four years old. The campus only consisted of a single building.

Though Old Main is no longer the center of campus, it’s still a big part of MLC life. Next year, the front entrance to Old Main will undergo a $650,000 renovation. Fundraising to replace the steps kicked off during MLC homecoming. Markgraf said one generous donor is willing to offer a $275,000 matching grant for the project.

The plan is to move the entrance to Old Main to the ground level and enclose exterior steps inside the building.

Markgraf said currently the front steps to Old Main cannot be used in the winter. The steep angle of the stairs, combined with ice in the colder months makes it too dangerous to use year round. The steps are closed off during the winter season.

MLC would like to use the steps all year but also retain the historical integrity.